A look inside New Meadowlands Stadium’s clubs (PDF).
New Meadowlands Stadium will feature what’s billed as revolutionary technology after Verizon and Cisco combined to provide digital video and wireless content over a network that requires 10,000 data ports and thousands of miles of cable.
The technology allows for branding, such as the stadium turning from blue to green depending on the host team. Video screens throughout the stadium range from offering food menus to in-game video to statistical information. In addition to the four high-definition video scoreboards in the stadium, there are more than 2,200 HD video displays throughout the facility.
“There’s highly interactive capabilities,” said chief technology officer Peter Brickman, who gave the example of wishing happy birthday on a video screen to a customer at a concessions stand.
“Plus, we have capabilities of tracking what’s being purchased, the popularity of how it’s selling, the popularity of our sales people. … We have ways to monitor and make sure our concession stands are working more efficiently.”
The Jets are also independently working with technology providers FanVision and Roundarch. The former offers handheld devices to fans that show video of the game from different angles. The latter provides real-time stadium data to the Jets in an effort to enhance the fan experience.
“Technology is key to the operation of this building,” Jets owner Woody Johnson said.
The technology has advanced so much, in fact, that some of it was not yet invented at the conception of the stadium. The fiber optics are now installed, though, so Verizon chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg said the only issue is keeping the software up-to-date with advancements.
Of course, the $100 million invested in stadium technology means little if the product on the field is not satisfactory.
“I’ve been in this business long enough to know that nothing enhances the fan experience more than putting a winning team on the field,” Giants owner John Mara said. “But having seen what other stadiums around the country have accomplished, we decided very early on that we wanted to be the most technologically advanced stadium in the world.”
From: NJ.com